Convener of the League of Northern Democrats and key promoter of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Dr Umar Ardo, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately constricting Nigeria’s political space by refusing to register new opposition parties, warning that such actions could turn elections into mere “affirmation exercises”.
Speaking on ARISE News on Tuesday, Ardo said INEC failed to provide any official explanation for rejecting ADA’s registration, despite the group meeting all legal and procedural requirements.
“INEC did not register any of the associations, not one,” he said. “Incidentally, INEC did not issue any press release, it did not post anything on its website, because it knows that public opinion will be highly against it.”
Ardo explained that out of 172 associations that submitted letters of intent, INEC screened the number down to 14, including ADA, and collected a non-refundable administrative fee of ₦2 million from each group.
“Out of the 172 that applied with letters of intent, they screened down to 14. Out of the 14, they collected the administrative fee of ₦2 million, which we paid, and then we applied through the dedicated portal,” he said.
According to him, the online application process ensured compliance with every statutory requirement.
“If any column on the portal is not filled, you cannot even submit. We filled every column and met every requirement of the law,” Ardo stated.
He added that INEC subsequently pre-qualified eight associations, including ADA, for the final stage of physical verification.
“INEC wrote to us that we had been pre-qualified for the last stage, which is physical verification,” he said. “They were to see our executives physically, inspect our offices, and verify original documents.”
Ardo disclosed that INEC officials visited ADA’s office on Monday, August 8, and conducted an extensive verification exercise lasting nearly four hours.
“INEC visited our office and verified everything,” he said. “They saw our office, which is as good as those of the PDP and APC in terms of infrastructure and staffing.”
He stressed that ADA exceeded the constitutional requirement for national spread.
“By law, we are required to present executives from at least 24 states and the FCT. We presented executives from all 36 states and the FCT,” Ardo said. “Every state of the federation was represented.”
He also dismissed claims that ADA’s rejection was due to an earlier clerical error in spelling INEC’s name.
“That issue is long past,” he said. “It happened in June, we immediately wrote to INEC, corrected it, and INEC acknowledged the correction. We had already passed that stage.”
Ardo linked INEC’s refusal to a broader pattern of what he described as systemic pressure on opposition parties.
“The crisis facing the PDP is only symptomatic,” he said. “The Labour Party, SDP, ADC, NNPP — all opposition parties are facing this existential crisis.”
He argued that INEC ought to have widened the democratic space instead of narrowing it.
“INEC should have registered at least one or two new parties to open up the political space for opposition participation,” Ardo said.
Warning of the democratic consequences, he added:
“When you have an election in which contest is not challenged by strong opposition, it becomes an affirmation exercise.”
Ardo accused the ruling establishment of deliberately weakening opposition parties to guarantee electoral victory.
“This is a strategy of the incumbent to weaken the opposition so that elections become a walkover,” he said.
Explaining why opposition parties remain vulnerable, Ardo said internal weaknesses are often exploited.
“Political parties are made up of different kinds of people — strong, weak, and dishonest,” he said. “These weaknesses are identified and used by the incumbent to create crises.”
He also faulted INEC’s role as an electoral umpire.
“At such times, we expect an umpire like INEC to stand its ground and create an enabling environment for fair contest,” Ardo said. “But when you have weak party structures and a weak institutional base conducting elections, then the system is compromised.”
Concluding, Ardo warned that Nigeria’s democracy faces serious danger if the trend continues.
“This is the problem Nigeria is facing today,” he said.
Boluwatife Enome
Follow us on:
